On May 28, in the native of Mallikpur village, Raghopur Tehsil, Bihar, the Yadav Community of the Rashtriya Janata Dal under the leadership of Tejaswi Yadav’s constituency has been accused of torching and beating up the members of the Dalit Community over land ownership wars. According to a report by India Today, a land dispute triggered the Yadav and Dalit community to lock horns with each other. Yet, the persons behind the torching incident are allegedly members of the Rashtriya Janata Dal.
The victims alleged that the people from the Yadav community first thrashed the Dalit families following which they burnt their houses. While armed forces have been called in to control the situation, tension prevails and the outrage might overflow into riots or more violent proceedings.
“We were repairing our house which was in dilapidated condition but the people from the Yadav community stopped us from doing so. We pleaded them to allow us repair our houses but they did not let us do that. When we protested, the police along with the accused, started to beat us. Later, they set 15 houses on fire. We are being victimized by the police as we are not getting justice,” a Dalit victim, Phudaini Paswan, recalled, terrified.
Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Modi has also taken cognizance of the Dalit atrocities in Raghopur and directed the Vaishali Superintendent of police to take stern action against the perpetrators.
Along the lines of this incident, Modi mulled over further allegations that the persons who torched the homes of Dalits were guised as members of the RJD who found sanctuary under the leadership of Tejaswi Yadav, further ensuing a political battle.
“I have spoken to the Vaishali SP. People from RJD are involved in the incident. Investigations in this case is going on, and no guilty will be spared. Tejaswi Yadav should have gone to Raghopur to stake stock of situation. However, he is providing patronage to the accused as they belong to RJD,” said Sushil Modi, deputy Chief Minister.
Meanwhile, reports suggest that senior Janata Dal(United) leader Ashok Chowdhary visited the affected village at the instructions of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to find the facts leading to the incident.
While no loss of life has been reported, injuries seem to be severe but the loss of property does not account for the mental strain and lost self-esteem that the Dalit community faces on a regular basis.
Once dismissed as “untouchables”, Dalits makeup 200 million of India’s 1.25 billion population and are at the bottom of the caste hierarchy. They have been enraged at a Supreme Court ruling that they say weakens a law intended to protect lower caste communities. The Court last month banned the automatic arrest of people accused of attacking or harassing Dalits and other marginalised groups. While the court says its intention was to prevent fake cases, Dalit leaders say the community is now more vulnerable to attack. Discrimination has become a political issue in the run-up to a national election that must be held before May 2019.
Source: India Today
Image Source: The News Minute